West of Pecos Opens for Real on Valencia Street

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Apart from Green Chile Kitchen and the soon-to-shutter Four Corners, San Francisco hasn’t had a lot of southwestern food to choose from. Well, as of tonight, there is a new cowboy-themed eatery moseying onto the scene, and it’s called West of Pecos (550 Valencia between 16th and 17th). It’s a new venture from the MacNiven family, including brothers Dylan (who brought us Woodhouse Fish Co.) and Tyler (who’s best known for being one of the “hippies” on the ninth season of Amazing Race). They had a soft opening last night, but tonight’s the official real deal, and the menu, as discussed, features Southwestern-American fare like a green-chile burger, and lamb albondigas. Update:See the full menu right here.

The restaurant takes its name from a 1945 western starring Robert Mitchum, which is actually called West of the Pecos, and the team brought in as much Old West authenticity as they could, including a couple of 100-year-old saloon-style doors from Santa Fe, reclaimed wood, a great big steer skull on one wall which they’ve named Hornsby, and axes for door handles. (They had to do a pretty serious build-out after taking the former, bare-bones Bombay Bazar and Ice Cream space, which needed a whole new roof and facade.)

There’s a wood-fired oven where executive chef Leo Varos is roasting meats and making homemade tortillas, and there are various Tex-Mex-y comfort foods to choose from like queso dip with crispy potatoes, cornbread and molasses, pozole, and green-chile mac and cheese.

As for the booze, there’s a full cocktail program with a house signature Pecos Margarita, Pecos Punch (served in cowboy-camp-style tin cups), and a Mezcal Mule.

See our full slideshow, and let us know how it is if you run over there for opening week.

West of Pecos - 550 Valencia Street between 16th and 17th - Open Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and until midnight Friday and Saturday.